\u201cAmerica is six months behind; it has wasted a lot of time,\u201d\u009d said Patrick Devedjian, the minister in charge of the French relance, or stimulus. By the time Washington gets around to doling out most of its money, Mr. Devedjian sniffed, \u201cthe crisis could be over.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Gallic pride aside, Mr. Devedjian has a point. While he plans to spend 75 percent of France\u2019s stimulus money this year, the White House is giving itself until fall 2010 to lay out that big a share of the American expenditure. And many experts predict that Washington will fall short of that goal.<\/p>\n
As it turns out, France\u2019s more centralized, state-directed economy \u201d\u201d so often criticized in good times for smothering entrepreneurship and holding back growth \u201d\u201d is proving remarkably effective at deploying funds quickly and efficiently in bad times.<\/p>\n